A Forgotten Love
by LoveHanaShan
Summary: My own Bokura ga ita ending, in Tokyo Yano is killed in a car collision and Nana is left alone and confused, Takeuchi is always there for here, who knows what could happen between the two...


Her tears continued to fall in a steady stream as Nana-chan leaned over her letter, rereading it for at least the third time. She was totally in shock with devastation, and the tears fell freely from her bloodshot eyes.

"Yano... Why?"

The letter was written by a doctor and forwarded from Yano's mother to her. Yano Motoharu, her now ex-boyfriend had died. Yano had rushed in front of a car, trying to save a puppy but didn't see another car speeding from the other direction. As Nana read the cold words for the last time, the letter slipped from her hands and she wrapped her arms around herself, crying desperately. She dragged herself up, trying to escape the pain that surrounded her. She bounded from the front door to her mothers surprise and collapsed in the front yard, still crying. She grasped her phone tightly in her hands until her knuckles turned white as she dialed the number of her closest friend. "Mizu-chin?" She began when suddenly an answering machine was telling her to leave a message.

It had been six months since Yano had left for Tokyo with his mother, she cried again as she remembered their pinky swear to meet up in a year. Also in the letter was a date for a funeral, Yano's mother was bringing the body back home to be buried and the date was in two days, on Sunday. Wiping the tears away from her face, she walked to the bus stop and caught a bus. Getting off the bus her feet carried her to a familiar location. Without even realizing it, she was standing in front of Yano's old house. She clung to the gate and cried, sinking to the ground. Suddenly behind her, she was interrupted by a gasp from none other than Yuri Yamamoto, the little sister of Nana Yamamoto, Yano's ex-girlfriend. Nana had died while dating him and a few months later Yano slept with her sister. As Nana swung her head around, looking like a zombie with her messed up hair and bloodshot eyes Yuri ran off without a backwards glance. Yuri would be able to understand her pain wouldn't she? afterall, she was in love with Yano as well. Jumping to her feet, Nana chased after Yuri and caught her by the wrist. "Wait Yuri, I have something to tell you that I think you should know" Yuri said nothing but nodded her head, proving she was willing to listen. "Yano died three days ago from a car collision," she said quikly before she lost the courage. Yuri's eyes bugged out and she quickly turned away and continued walking off. This time however Nana didn't follow, although her shoulders drooped from disappointment.

Dragging her feet slowly through the dirt, Nana began the walk back to the bus stop, this time she went around a block, she still wasn't ready to return yet. Not looking where she was going she ran into something suddenly, something...living. "Ow!" She said as she fell to the ground, unsure of what hurt more, her head or her bottom.

"Oh I'm so sorry miss, please, let me help you up, said a familiar male voice"

"Huh? Ta...Takeuchi kun!"

"Nana, Nana chan, what's the matter? Have you been crying? your eyes are very red" Suddenly she jumped up and ran into his embrace, hugging him tightly. Sobbing into his chest she muffled out,

Takeuchi, Yano's gone" "Nana? I don't understand, what do you mean, he's been gone." he assured her.

"He's gone for good, he was killed by a car trying to save a puppy," she replied. Yano's bestfriend, holding the girl that the both of them loved fell to his knees with shock, still holding Nana to his chest. He slowly wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, comforting her with his very touch and presence. Although he was hurting, he wanted to comfort her more than anything, there was just one thing he had to know.

"Nana...when is he coming home? His voice had changed from only moments before, it was the voice of pain.

"This Sunday..." "Then we will go together and see him when he arrives" Now there was nothing left to do but hold each other and cry.

As Takeuchi held her waist and walked her home the rain began to fall. They stopped and looked up, as if coming out of a dream. You'll catch a cold Nana, here, please take my sweater." He let her waist go and pulled off his sweater, handing it to Nana. Putting his sweater on, Nana felt his body heat and smell all around her. Her heart started beating at a faster rate and her breath caught in her throat. She found herself leaning towards him. Takeuchi grabbed her hand and squeezed it and they resumed their walk to the bus stop. When they reached it, the weather was horrible, it was raining hard and the bus bench, although deserted was freezing. Cold cruel metal! Nana scooted closer and leaned into him for warmth. "Why does my heart beat so fast every time i get close to him, Yano may be gone, but he's the one I'm in love with. I can't be feeling this way towards his best friend on the very day i received news of his death. But then again, he has always somehow been there for me..." She leaned into his body, her head under his chin, protected from the rain. She was so comfortable, and worn out from all that crying. She found herself drifting off to sleep. The bus came screeching to a halt, jolting Nana from her peaceful sleep like a blow from a baseball bat. She yelled in alarm and jumped from the bench with vigor. Takeuchi smiled weakly despite it all. "Nana, you looked so funny!"

The pair finally reached Nanami's gate and they both hesitated in front of it. She wondered if she should invite him in for a bit, he was soaking wet after all, and it was dusk, turning to night. While she was pondering this however, Takeuchi broke the silence first, "Nana, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'll be there for you with open ears, I love you." The rain ceased it's endless patter and the birds could be heard giving their thanks. As soon as Takeuchi realized what he said, he turned quickly and walked away, leaving a stunned and very confused Nana at the gate, still wrapped in his sweater.

On the bus Takeuchi was beating himself up in his head. "Baka! She's not over Yano yet and I'm already making moves on her, Yano must be hating me right now. I can't believe I told her that again." He shivered and remembered that he left his sweater behind in his panic. As the bus stopped on it's daily route, a couple wearing matching shirts got on the bus holding hands and making out as the bus sped on. Takeuchi watched the pair while bitterly thinking of his own love and his best friend. He was almost angry with himself for making a promise to Yano at the train station that while he was away, he wouldn't play unfairly and try to win over Nana's affections. He knew he would feel guilty if anything happened between them, yet he also knew this wouldn't stop his advances now.

Numbly Nanami made her way up the stairs to her bedroom, closing and locking the door behind her. She was so confused by her feelings and emotions. She was depressed about Yano and at the same time...could it be that she was feeling something towards Takeuchi?! Of course not! He was just a good, caring friend. A good caring friend who loved her... Nana threw herself face down into her pillow, crying herself to sleep.

The next morning was Saturday, one day before Yano's funeral. Nana called Mizu-chin again and this time got an answer. She had cried all of her tears out but Mizu could tell by the sound of her voice that something was wrong. Mizu invited Nana to go shopping with her and told her to meet her at the plaza in front of the station at 1:30 pm. Immediately after getting off the phone with Nana, Mizu called Taka-chan.

"Hello?"

"Taka-chan?"

"Uh, hi how are you?" distractedly she replied fine,

"Taka, meet me at the restaurant we went to on your birthday please, Nana and I will meet you there with some important news."

"Okay I'll be right there," replied a slightly alarmed Taka.

Nanami shuffled around the room with her eyes on the floor. She soon located suitable clothes for the warm weather and tying her hair up, walked out the door. Even on the bus she remained quiet, staring blankly at her lap as though she would start melting if she looked away. She peeled herself away from her chair and climbed down the bus stairs at her stop. A cool wind blew through her red pony rail, ruffling her blue shirt and skirt. Almost for the first time she looked up but quickly returned her gaze to her shoes.

Takeuchi sat in his kitchen, staring at a dirty cup, he had barely moved in the past two hours. He ran his hands through his short brown hair and rested his head on his arms. Beside him on the counter was a letter almost identical to the one Nanami had recieved, with an added note at the bottom. "When I arrive on Sunday with Yano I will be bringing Lalami and returning her to you. I hope this will not be a problem, I cant afford her with my medical and Yano's funeral bills. I should save this and tell you in person but in case I forget his exact words, Yano said something to me in the hospital as he was dying that he wished me to tell you."

He said, "Take care of Nanami for me Takeuchi, and if you hurt her, I'll haunt you for the rest of your life and kill you when you die." As his _sister _passed him on her way to the fridge she paused,

"I heard about Yano. So what are you going to do now?"

Takeuchi looked up, "What do you mean what am I going to do?"

"What are you going to do about that girl now that Yano is gone?" He looked down and fiddled with his pocket,

"What can I do? It's not like she's going to be my girlfriend now that Yano is gone, she still has feelings for him and she's grieving right now anyway." She shook her head,

"Baka, this is your chance, comfort her now, you can make her happy, she will fall in love with you."

"I don't want her to date me just because Yano is no longer around, I'll never know if she really loves me or she's just dating me because I'm her only option..."

"Yano is no longer around Takeuchi, which means you have the opportunity to show her your the better man, you can make her happier then she could ever have been with Yano, show her, win her heart Takeuchi, you can do it." She left the room, leaving him to think some more.

Taka and Mizu's eyes bugged out of their heads as Nana told them everything that had happened recently. As tears began to fall down her face, wow where did those come from?! She must have a bottomless well inside that head! Mizu and Taka rushed to her side and clung to her hugging her and comforting her as best they could. At six pm they walked her home, afraid to leave her alone but exhausted from all the window shopping and trying to cheer her up they had done. Nana carried herself up to her room, laden with chocolates from her friends. She felt better since her friends had been there for her but she still felt empty, as though something inside her was missing. She filled the bath tub with warm water and removed each article of clothing, revealing flawless cream skin. Releasing her hair from it's tie, she stepped into the bath, enjoying the heat, goosebumps rose along her legs and arms as she slowly sank into the relaxing water. Bringing her knees up to her chest she sat letting steam rise into her face, relaxing and thinking. Two hours later she was reaching for her fuzzy towel, an aroma of strawberries rising from her skin, walking down the hall to her bedroom, she saw that her light was on and the door to her bedroom was open. She stepped into her room and to her surprise, found Takeuchi sitting in a chair waiting for her. When they realized she was wearing nothing but a towel, she stopped dead in her tracks and gaped. An alarmed and tomato faced Takeuchi yelled and fell out of his chair. Nana looked both ways, thinking of what to do, she jumped in her closet and hid behind the door as Takeuchi ran out of the room.

Takeuchi apologized for the sixth time to the now fully dressed Nana. "Your mother told me you would be back any second and it would be alright to sit and wait for you, I had no idea Nana, I'm sorry" Well anyway, I brought you this, he handed the quiet Nana a package, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Takeuchi...he was your best friend, you didn't have to get me anything." She slowly opened the package to reveal a cute little cell phone strap, a purple butterfly hanging from the end. "Thank you Takeuchi, that was very kind of you," she said as she connected it to her phone. As he turned to leave she called out, "Wait Takeuchi," she jumped up and grabbed his sweater off her door handle, "don't forget this." "Oh yeah, thanks a lot." "Thank you for letting me use it she replied wistfully."

"I'll see you tomorrow at ten am Nana, sleep well," and with that he left. Passerby on the street that night witnessed a strange sight as a young man walked home, smelling his sweater every now and then, drinking in the smell of his love.


End file.
